Batman vs Reptile
by chilled monkey
Summary: Two masters of stealth go head to head when Kotal Kahn's spy Reptile encounters the Dark Knight. WARNING! Rated M for gore and death.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own either Batman or Mortal Kombat. They are property of DC Comics and NetherRealm Studios respectively. No profit is being made from this story.

 **Author's Note:** WARNING! There will be character death and gore in this story.

* * *

Night had fallen over the Gotham City Museum of Antiquities. Now closed to the public, the building was dark and near-silent. The only sound was the footsteps of a lone night watchman as he wandered down a corridor. He made a token effort of running his flashlight around the hall and then left. As he walked away he was completely unaware of the eyes that were watching him.

 _Fool_ thought Syzoth, more commonly known as Reptile. As a precaution he had used his natural camouflage ability to render himself near-invisible, but he doubted that the inept guard would have noticed him even if he hadn't bothered to. Still, Kotal Kahn had ordered him to avoid detection and there was no point in taking chances.

The rest of the museum's security proved to be just as lax and it took him only a matter of minutes to locate the item he had been sent to acquire in a storage room.

"At leasst ssomeone had enough ssensse not to exhibit thiss in a casse" Reptile mused as he studied the item in question. It looked to be just an oddly-shaped and highly ornate dagger but it was far more than that. This dagger was one of the kamidogu. In the wrong hands it was capable of being used for terrible destruction.

"The humanss would thank me if they knew" he commented. "Thiss will be far ssafer in the handss of Kotal Kahn."

He tucked the dagger into his belt and made his way to the museum's roof. Using the city's rooftops would allow him to reach the portal back to Outworld much quicker.

But as he was about to leave he sensed the presence of another. He turned to see a figure emerge from the shadows. Despite the absurd costume the human wore he moved with the fluidity and contained power of a trained warrior.

"You've one chance to depart" Reptile warned.

"I'm Batman" the costumed man replied in a gravely, rasping voice. "And I'm bringing you down."

"Let uss begin."

Batman drew out a pair of batarangs and threw them. Reptile opened his jaws, his hinged mask parting, and fired a jet of green liquid from a gland under his tongue. The batarangs were knocked out of the air and by the time they hit the rooftop they were nothing more than shapeless, melted lumps.

Unfazed, Batman launched himself towards his foe and unleashed a volley of punches. Reptile blocked each one and retaliated by slashing with his clawed hands. Batman skilfully evaded each blow and then blocked and trapped his opponent's arm. He put a hand behind Reptile's head and smashed it into an air conditioning unit. Batman followed this with a series of punches to his head.

A lesser foe would have been subdued but Reptile was not so easily beaten. He landed an elbow strike to Batman's jaw that momentarily dazed him. He tried to press his advantage with an overhead slashing blow but Batman recovered in time to block it. They broke apart and faced each other for a moment before lunging in again simultaneously.

Both exchanged blindingly fast kicks and punches while blocking their opponent's attacks. Batman threw a left hook but Reptile dodged and landed a roundhouse kick that sent Batman reeling away. He was able to throw himself into a series of back-flips, putting enough distance between them for him to clear his head.

He reached into his utility belt again and took out a bola. He spun it around and hurled it through the air. Reptile snorted in contempt as he slashed it in two with one blow, his claws slicing easily through the polymer line. He started to move in but then noticed another object near his feet, one that Batman had rolled towards him while he was preoccupied with the bola. It was a flash-bang grenade.

The grenade went off with a loud explosion and a burst of light. He growled and stumbled back as the blast disoriented him. Batman capitalised on the opening, springing forwards to land a series of alternating rights and left, then a jump spinning back kick that sent him flying backwards. He landed on his back and hurriedly scrambled up.

"Enough of thiss." As much as he hated to flee from battle like a coward, Kotal Kahn had ordered him to return the dagger, not to engage in combat. Completing his mission had to be his main focus. With that in mind Reptile camouflaged himself, disappearing from sight, and began clambering down the museum wall towards the ground below.

Batman watched him go, using a pair of infrared lenses to observe him. _Perfect_ the Caped Crusader thought. _I'll let him think he's got away and then catch him unawares._

He fired his grapple gun and swung to another building nearby. Within under a minute he had reacquired his quarry. The strange creature was making his way through an alley. He had lowered his camouflage, clearly believing he'd eluded his pursuer.

Batman pulled another weapon from his utility belt, this time a smoke grenade. He hurled it through the air and it landed at his opponent's feet, spewing out a thick cloud of grey mist that filled the entire alley. Visibility was now near zero. Batman leapt out of the shadows, fully expecting to end the fight…

And flew right into a back kick that connected with his jaw with a sharp CRACK!

The combined force of both the kick and his own momentum was stunning. Batman staggered away, barely able to stay on his feet. With a gleeful hiss, Reptile landed two solid punches to his face followed by a roundhouse kick.

By now Batman was struggling to stay conscious. He felt strong, scaly hands grip the front of his tunic and lift him up while a voice snarled,

"Your sstench betrayed you human!"

With that Reptile spun around and threw Batman into a wall. He hit with bone-jarring impact and fell to his knees. It was time to end this.

Reptile's jaws opened again and his prehensile tongue shot out. It wrapped around Batman's head and with a horrific ripping of flesh and popping of cartilage, tore it off. A crimson geyser shot up from the neck stump as Reptile retracted his tongue and swallowed his foe's head whole with a single gulp.

He nodded at the remains of his opponent. "Truly he wass a worthy foe. He would have been a fine addition to Kotal Kahn'ss army."

With that said he once more cloaked himself and began climbing back up the wall. He had already tarried longer than intended and he did not wish to keep his master waiting.

* * *

 **Analysis:**

While Batman is a highly skilled fighter it must be remembered that Reptile has been an assassin and warrior for thousands of years, meaning he has vastly more experience. While Batman is arguably more skilled, Reptile is definitely capable of contending with him.

The deciding factor though is the same one as in the "Death Battle" episode "Batman vs. Spiderman." Batman's main edge in battle comes from his use of surprise and stealth. Reptile's keen sense of smell countered that, allowing him to turn the tables on him. Plus as a stealth master himself he would be familiar with such tactics and would know how to counter them, thus turning Batman's biggest strength against him.


End file.
